Most merpeople speak in English (with a few slight adjustments that will be described in book one). However they also have their own language which takes two different forms. Merpeople call their language Erian. It’s two types are: Littera Erian and Syllaba Erian.

Some generations ago merpeople began to use English because Erian is a much simpler language and doesn’t have the extremely wide range of vocabulary that English does. Although, when speaking English many merpeople often substitute in Littera Erian words. In both forms of Erian the only types of words they have are:

Nouns
Pronouns
Verbs
Adjectives
Adverbs
Possessive Adjectives
Prepositions

Because these are the only words they have, sentences are very simple. There is no past or future tense, only present. It is partly because of this that many merpeople began to use English as it developed. It is believed that anciently merpeople used hand signs to communicate in addition to Erian.

Littera Erian:
It is made up of words using single letters.
It only uses 18 of the 26 letters in the English alphabet
 – (A, E, F, G, H, I, J, L, M, N, O, R, S, T, U, V, W, Y)
All words begin with the letters A, E, F, G, J, L, M, R, S, T or V.
E is the most common letter used at the beginning of a word.

Syllaba Erian:
It is made up of words where the single letters from Littera are now two syllables.
Each individual two syllable section is called a serc.
When speaking Syllaba Erian there is a distinct pause between each serc.
Hence it takes a very long time to say anything.

As a general rule most merpeople speak English or Littera Erian or a mix of the two.
The exception to this is ceremonies.
Such ceremonies include: births, joinings (the mer equivalent of marriage), deaths, Royal blessings, the opening and closing of Councils at the beginning and end of each decade.

Both forms of Erian can be written using English letters but it is only humans who do so. When merpeople write they use Syllaba Erian and write out each serc in a symbol.

For example: (A common greeting merpeople give each other)

In English:

Watch you waves. Drink in deep.

In Littera Erian:

Lasar aie eneese. Mooneese fras toram.

In Syllaba Erian:

LS-AS-ES-AS-IES     AS-IS-EY     EY-NS-EY-EY-ES-EY.
MF-OS-OS-NS-EY-EY-ES-EY     EF-IES-AS-ES     EFES-OS-IES-AS-MF.
(each serc is seperated by a dash)

– Serc Pronunciation (for this example)

LS = ell-seu, AS = ay-seu, ES = ie-seu, IES = eye-ess, IS = eye-seu, EY = ie-yeu, NS = en-seu, MF = em-feu, OS = oh-seu, EF = ie-feu, EFES = ie-fess

Syllaba Erian written in serc symbols: